Yellow-eyed Junco and Young

Recently, I went with a group to Bear Wallow on Mt. Lemmon. It was so nice and cool compared to the temperatures in the valley below, and the smell of pine trees and the birds singing made for a very nice morning. At one point a small group of Yellow-eyed Juncos hopped onto a rock. It was a nice looking trio.

We had seen a few juvenile Yellow-eyed Juncos there earlier, so it was nice to finally see the adults. The little ones don’t have the same plumage as the adult Juncos yet. Their eyes are dark compared to the adult’s. There are a few rusty feathers on this bird’s back but it will be another month or two before it will molt and gain a full back of the rusty feathers.

Meanwhile, an adult had found some food for the youngster. Both male and female Yellow-eyed Juncos look alike so I couldn’t tell which parent this was. And both parents feed the fledgling birds after they leave the nest.

The adult bird hadn’t left its perch, but the youngster approached begging for food. You can see the streaky breast that young Yellow-eyed Juncos have. As an adult it will have a smooth gray breast.

The adult gave the insect to its young which took its time to swallow the food.

The little one continued to struggle with the insect.

Finally, it swallowed the snack and the adult and the little one parted ways. They would remain near each other so the feeding would continue.

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A correction to a recent post: In my photos of Panama birds along the Pacific Coast, I misidentified one bird. Matt G. recognized that the bird I called a Long-billed Curlew was actually a Hudsonian Whimbrel. Both coastal birds look similar but the Whimbrel can be identified by the dark striped crown, the dark eye line, and the pale eyebrow Curlews have a much larger bill. Thank you Matt!